The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of hybrid Baptisia plant, botanically known as Baptisia ‘Lunar Eclipse’ and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, ‘Lunar Eclipse’. The new cultivar represents a new false indigo, an herbaceous perennial grown for landscape use.
The new invention arose from an ongoing breeding program in a dedicated test plot in Glencoe, Ill. The objective of the breeding program is to develop novel interspecific hybrids of Baptisia that exhibit unique flower coloration, hybrid vigor, ease of clonal propagation, and desirable plant habits.
‘Lunar Eclipse’ was selected as a single unique plant by the Inventor in June of 2009 after evaluating seedlings that derived from a cross made in June of 2003 between Baptisia ‘Midnight’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 20,432) as the female parent and an unnamed hybrid plant derived from open pollination of an interspecific hybrid Baptisia (australis×sphaerocarpa) from the Inventor's breeding program as the male parent.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished by rooting of stem tip cuttings under the direction of the Inventor in July of 2009 in Glencoe, Ill. Asexual propagation by rooting of stem shoot tip cuttings has determined that the characteristics of the new cultivar are stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.